


au nom de l'amour

by orphan_account



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 01:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7993051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leliana wakes up without her partner in bed. </p><p> <b>Modern AU. Oneshot.</b></p>
            </blockquote>





	au nom de l'amour

**Author's Note:**

> Wanted to try writing in modern Orlais. So.

It’s a little past eight when Leliana starts to stir under the bed sheets.

There’s ray of sunlight creeping past the thin fabric of the curtains from the window, and when a small breeze blows the drapery farther inside, the room lights up for a moment, drawing out a half-groan half-yawn from Leliana when the light hits her face.

She blearily blinks her eyes in the sunlight then before pushing herself up from the bed and peering at the empty side of the bed. It doesn’t take too long for her to shake off the last traces of sleep, an effect brought on by the fact that she needed somewhere to be today and the absence of her bedmate did very little, if at all, to tempt her to sleep in.

Shifting her weight to stretch, the covers roll off from her chest, subsequently revealing the bare of her back and breasts, down to the cheeks of her posterior once she slips out of bed. Leliana catches a glimpse of herself, all in her naked glory, from a broken mirror situated at the corner of the bedroom. Leliana had accidentally kicked it with her heel during one of her rowdier and clumsier nights when her partner had been so enthused at the prospect of screwing her across a mirror that she had gotten carried away as well.

Grabbing a yellow towel that hung from the only chair in the room, she proceeds into the bathroom, promptly throwing the towel into the sink and then stepping into the shower. It doesn't take much long for her to finish because she’s out and walking over to the closet in about ten minutes time, where she picks out a decent blue, button-up blouse and a pair of well-fitted jeans, tucking the shirt in before fixing a belt around her waist, and grabbing her purse and keys by the bedside table.

Outside of the apartment, the hallway reeks of vomit and cigarette smoke. Most of the linoleum tiles had either cracked or been completely removed, and the wall paint had long been scraping off on its own from neglected maintenance. There were a handful of people sleeping in the hall, among some were locked out of their apartments either due to losing keys or getting kicked out by irate lovers. The rest were squatters not lucky enough to afford a room, settling to sleep atop cardboard boxes instead while they snuck into buildings to find shelter from colder nights.

In minutes, she’s out on the streets of one of the many regions of backwater Orlais. She takes a turn down an alleyway but halts when the stench of piss and dog shit is stronger than usual, deciding then that she’d have to take the longer route to get to the pub. Leliana turns away and blanches when she narrowly misses stepping into a pile of filth. She had even worn her favorite shoes.

At the buzz coming from her purse, Leliana takes out her cell and smiles when she sees the caller ID before bringing the phone to her ear.

“Allô!”

“Leliana! Where are you?”

“Josie, so good to hear from you.”

“This is not funny, Leliana. You said you’d be here.”

“Before ten. And it’s only,” Leliana raises her left arm to peek at her watch, “Eight forty-two. Stop worrying, Josie. The exhibit doesn’t even start until noon.”

“But!”

“I’m on my way to the pub right now,” Leliana interrupts her again, before adding, “You should relax more Josie. I’m sure Yvette will be okay on her own for another hour.”

The line is silent for a bit. Leliana could only imagine the Antivan woman taking deep breaths to soothe her usually frayed nerves.

“Everything… will be fine.”

Leliana bubbles with laughter, “I’ll see you soon, Josie.”

“Right. Of course. I should check up on Antoine…” Josephine mumbles the last line before hanging up.

Leliana stares at the phone then shakes her head. Though Josephine was a couple of years younger than her, the Antivan was certainly more uptight than Leliana could ever be.

Maybe they should try the beach some time once Josephine clears off her work schedule. Maker knows she probably misses the sea air.

The pub was within her sights now, a large sign of emboldened letters that read Bull’s Bar & Diner. It was a two-storey hovel situated between two larger buildings, both of which were worn down. Sometimes Leliana worries about getting buried underneath metric tons of concrete and steel if an earthquake comes by.

A few yards away, she could already hear the Chargers brawling, along with a mighty guffaw she could only guess as Bull’s. She places a hand on the door and pushes it open, the bells chime overhead, announcing her arrival.

“Bonjour!”

The room fell silent for a while, all eyes on her. At that moment, Krem took advantage of the distraction and threw Rocky over his shoulders and onto the floor, the dwarf’s back smacking against hardwood with a loud thud. Some of the Chargers oohed and winced at the impact, while the rest roared in laughter. Krem extended a hand to the fallen dwarf, who happily accepted only to slap the rump of the taller man once Rocky pulled up.

The establishment served a variety of food, which was mostly a mesh of Tevene, Antivan and Ferelden dishes. Though sometimes Bull puts up desserts on the menu when he was in the mood to bake. When Leliana applied, she had asked to put a few basic Orlesian dishes. Bull agreed, of course, adding, “We could definitely use some easy money. Ease some of the customers into their comfort zone.”

Across the room was the aforementioned Bull, a large, sinewy man with horns who was leaning on the wall, wearing only cargo pants and nothing on top aside from the shoulder support. Tribal tattoos intricately danced across the whole right of his arm, up to his chest and shoulder.

“Morning, Red.” Bull bellows over the noise, grinning at her as he would greet all his employees. Leliana replies with a wink.

Turning around and towards the counter, Leliana spots Eira on the telephone, shouting profanities at whoever was on the other side of the line.

“Non, c'est pas ma job de régler tes problèmes, connard!”

Leliana quirks an amused eyebrow as she pulls out one of the bar stools just opposite of Eira. Once she’s within Eira’s peripheral view, the woman pauses, covering the mouthpiece as she says, “One sec.”

Eira keeps quiet for a bit, listening to the person prattle on what probably is a line of excuses that quickly ate away at the woman’s patience. “Écoutez-Moi! J'ai une idée, prends tes excuses pitoyables et fourre-toi-les. Va te faire enculer.”

Slamming the phone down, Eira sighs into her hands.

Leliana leans closer to run her hand through Eira’s blonde locks, then presses her thumb against the woman’s temple, moving her index in a circular motion.

Shortly, Eira leans into Leliana’s hand, before taking hold of her fingers and pulling to kiss the inside of her wrist.

“Sleep well, Leliana?”

“You could ‘ave woken me up before you left.”

“I tried.” Eira chuckles then leans away as she bends a little behind the bar, taking out a box of pastry and a cup of coffee before placing them on the counter.

“I bought breakfast. Go ahead while the coffee’s still hot.”

“What about you?”

“Not hungry.” Eira smiles. “Eat up.”

Leliana mutters a small prayer before opening the box that contained a croissant.

Rocky arrives at the bar moments later and asks Eira if he could get a drink. Eira nods as she heads to the back room to fetch some beer reserved for the Chargers. Meanwhile, Leliana takes the opportunity to start up a conversation with the dwarf.

“Sorry about the fight, Rocky. How much did you lose this time?”

“Ten sovereigns and a free round for the entire band. Would’ve won though had you come in a little later.”

“How so?”

“My Lady Red, you are a beacon of beauty that deserves an entire room’s attention, especially mine. Pity Krem’s got eyes only for Maryden.”

“Oy. Here’s your beer.”

“Aw, I was just chatting up your woman, Salroka. Nothing bad.”

Eira gives him a feral grin, while waving her hand in shoo-ing motion, “Yeah, yeah.”

Rocky clutches at his chest before grabbing the bottle of beer and hopping down the stool. He keeps up the image of feigned hurt until one of the Chargers hits him on the back, which almost made Rocky drop his drink costing the man who hit him a sore ass.

Turning back to Eira, Leliana tugs at the front of her lover’s shirt. Eira indulges her as she leans closer, pecking her on the lips once then twice.

“Hmm,” Leliana sighs, brushing her nose against the Nord’s.

“You’ll be late.”

This time, Leliana rolls her eyes, “Not in two hours, technically.”

The expression Eira throws her is that of mock surprise, “You would risk Josephine’s wrath? How unlike you.” Leliana remains unamused, however, making the Nord rub the back of her neck at the failed attempt to tease. “The Iron Bull’s lending me his truck to make a few deliveries and a pickup. I could drive you to the gallery if you like.”

“That’d be nice.”

“Come on.”


End file.
